A vehicle fuel rail is a conduit that supplies fuel to a plurality of fuel injectors. The fuel injectors inject fuel directly or indirectly into corresponding combustion chambers of the engine. Electromagnetic fuel injectors deliver fuel to the engine in metered pulses that are appropriately timed to the operation of the engine. In some circumstances, the sequential energization of the fuel injectors induces pressure pulsations within the fuel rail. The pressure pulsations can result in improper fuel distribution to the injectors, and fuel line hammering which results in vibration and audible noise.
To reduce or eliminate the pressure pulsations, a damper may be disposed inside the vehicle fuel rail. In some systems, the damper is located and retained within the vehicle fuel rail via elastic retaining elements that are secured to the ends of the damper and suspend the damper within the fuel rail. In some devices, the elastic retaining elements are spring and/or wire retainers that protrude from each end of the damper in such a way as to be symmetric about a midline of the damper. However, the spring and/or wire retainers may become dislodged during assembly with the fuel rail. This is because the damper leading end may be designed for insertion into an open end of the fuel rail, but the damper trailing end, which has a mirrored configuration, may experience interference with the fuel rail open end. In addition, the spring and/or wire retainers may also become dislodged during transportation whereby the trailing end retainer may be lost, requiring re-work via removal of the damper from the fuel rail. If the dislodged retainer is left within the repaired fuel rail, additional issues may arise related to increased noise, leakage and/or distortion. A fuel rail damper that is easily installed and maintained, and avoids the possibility of dislodged parts, is desired.